We covered six myths in the first article, so let’s take a look at some more of these myths and you’ll see what I mean.

Myth #7. Fats, carbs, and sugar are the enemies.

You might have noticed that popular diets seem to come and go. In the 1990s, for instance, low-fat diets were popular. Then it was low-carb diets. Now it seems to be gluten-free diets. So it seems we’re given different foods to blame for our weight issues. But again, given human nature, if you’re not enjoying your life while you’re losing weight, you won’t keep living that way.

There are only three main food groups we can assess blame to: carbs, fats, and proteins. If we remove one of them, this dramatically limits our food choices. Even if you do eliminate one of these and lose weight, when all is said and done, it would take enormous effort to keep them out of your life forever.

If you really enjoy that particular food group, it would be even harder. So the food group comes back into your diet along with the calories and weight gain.

Myth #8. Dieting works if you skimp all day and have a high-calorie night.

The impact of hunger on choice is undeniable. You know this if you’re the kind of person who “saves” up their calories for the last meal of the day. Even skipping 500 calories during the day by not eating breakfast or lunch has been shown to lead to over-consuming calories at night.

Instead, as I suggested before, be more thoughtful and organized about your eating during the day so enjoying your evening meal is easy without over-eating.

Myth #9. Weight loss comes in a bottle.

I’ll bet you were wondering when I’d mention this one! While there is no shortage of products claiming otherwise, I’ve yet to see science back up any of these claims. For both drug and nutrition companies, a safe and effective weight management product is their holy grail. Yet the grail hasn’t been found!

Myth #10. The last ten pounds are the hardest.

For most people this means the last ten pounds before getting to their pre-set weight goal. However, if those last ten pounds require an effort that’s restrictive and way beyond what’s comfortable, those pounds probably won’t stay off anyway once the level of your efforts change.

Maybe seeing these last ten pounds as the slowest to come off, rather than the hardest, will allow you to relax and both enjoy your life and continue your weight management plans.

Finding Your Best Weight

We’ve covered ten myths, and forgive the pun, but that’s a lot of food for thought. If I had to choose one, I’d say that thinking there is some IDEAL weight, often at the expense of living life in a healthy way, would be the most detrimental to people. IDEAL is a big word and rarely do we get to our ideal.

The dictionary defines ideal as absolutely perfect. That puts a lot of pressure on a person going for the ideal in any aspect of life.

As we’ve discussed, weight varies for so many reasons and is different across races, genders, ages, body types, and musculature. Some of these factors are beyond our control. All these realities can mean that going for your BEST weight, rather than some ideal, is a much healthier way to approach your diet and relationship with food.

So live a healthy life that you enjoy and work to smooth out your relationship with food. Your BEST weight will follow!

Shelli Stein

Shelli Stein holds a Master’s degree in exercise physiology and has completed over 12 advanced certifications in the field of health and fitness. She coaches and teaches from her home base in San Diego, California. Her specialties include hormone health for women, run coaching, and helping her clients move from pain to performance. She offers free newsletters both weekly and monthly from her websites: www.joyinmovement.com and www.activemenopauselifestyle.com